“With Israel reacting to Unesco time and again saying that the Temple Mount is ours, it’s time that we enact full Jewish sovereignty on the mount!”
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Gray reports that Bannon keeps in his office a whiteboard of Trump’s campaign promises, including the one about the embassy move to Jerusalem.
While Netanyahu and Abbas both hailed Trump -Netanyahu stating “working with you, I believe we can advance a durable peace”, and Abbas envisaging that Trump “will go down in history” as the president who secured peace, the verdict elsewhere was mixed.
“All the different messages made by President Trump are not only something heartwarming to Israelis, but it’s a clear message to the Palestinians: Be serious about making peace and don’t delude yourselves that the U.S.is not Israel’s ally and will look the other way”.
But when Trump spoke, he sounded like anything but a typical US president.
Although Trump does want a deal, he assigned his son-in-law Jared Kushner and former Trump Organisation attorney Jason Greenblatt, two novice individuals who know even less about the complexity of the conflict than he does, to find a solution that has eluded several presidents before him. On the other hand, [opposition leader] Isaac Herzog and [former foreign minister Tzipi] Livni also proclaimed themselves to be very satisfied. “It just doesn’t make any sense, and if somebody wants to stop the peace process because of that they have a whole bunch of things they’re not going to agree on”, Green told PJM. “They can’t both be right”.
The Liberty Counsel’s Staver said his organization will hold Trump accountable if the president fails to follow through on his pledge.
After the pomp of presidential travel overseas, Trump will return to Washington and numerous problems he left behind. “And once the Palestinians will have their own state beside the state of Israel, then the Arab peace initiative can be implemented”.
The people of Israel, Netanyahu stressed, “are not a nation of refugees”.
“That’s Palestinian law. That law must be changed”.
“Terrorism is a threat, bad threat to all of humanity”, Trump said, standing in front of a massive American flag at Naval Air Station Sigonella. Let’s always remember the bond between our two nations is woven together in the hearts of our peoples. He is a friend of Israel and is committed to its security, but he does not accept the right wing’s ideological premise of Israel’s biblical right to absolute ownership of the entire Land of Israel.
“Overall it was seen here as successful”, said Hoenlein of Trump’s visit.
While Trump heaped praise on Israel during the 28-hour visit, he spent only one hour in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
In a press conference on Monday, reelected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani berated Trump and Saudi officials, highlighting that it would be impossible to achieve stability in the Middle East without Tehran’s help. It questioned how the USA commitment to maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge would be impacted by the sale.
“I’m not at peace with the whole arms race in the Middle East”, he added. “This possibility must also be considered here”. Similarly, Trump’s repeated public comments about settlements being problematic and the disagreements between his negotiators and the Israeli negotiating team over what the USA deems to be acceptable settlement construction only make sense in the context of a drive toward a two-state solution.
Hoenlein said he understood that “some of the weapons may have been included in previous sales”.
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Earlier this month, Israel rejected as “absurd” a UNESCO resolution it said denies Jews’ historical connection to Jerusalem by presenting Israel as an occupying power there.
